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Hold My Cutter
Email: Holdmycutter@gmail.com
Hold My Cutter
The 84 Days That Changed Everything
What drives someone to walk away from a stable career to chase their dream? Joanne Harrop did exactly that, leaving behind a decade in office equipment sales to pursue her passion for sports writing. With remarkable determination, she offered to write for free for local publications until finally breaking through as the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review's first full-time female sports reporter in 1997.
Sitting at Burned by Rocky Patel (which she was the first to feature when it opened), Harrop captivates us with stories from her 28-year journalism career. Instantly recognizable by the stylish hats she wears daily—a tradition started 15 years ago while covering fashion—she's evolved from sports reporting to becoming a celebrated features writer covering everything from food to real estate. Along the way, she's interviewed legends like Michael Jordan and Billie Jean King, while never forgetting Jim Leyland's advice to "act like you've been there before."
The conversation takes a profound turn when Harrop shares the experience that led to her book, "A Daughter's Promise." When COVID-19 forced nursing homes to lock down in March 2020, Harrop faced an impossible choice regarding her 93-year-old mother: leave or stay indefinitely. Without hesitation, she moved in, honoring a promise made to her father years earlier. What began as a supposed two-week closure stretched into 84 days, during which her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and eventually passed away. Her journal entries from this period became a National Edward R. Murrow Award-winning article and ultimately her book.
Through laughter, tears, and Pittsburgh sports memories, Harrop reminds us of journalism's evolving nature and the profound connection between mother and daughter. Her simple explanation for staying when others couldn't—"She would have done the same for me"—encapsulates a love story that transcends circumstances. Pick up "A Daughter's Promise" to experience the full journey of a woman who found her voice by following her heart.
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here, just a few blocks away from pnc park burned by rocky patel, and we've got a very special guest. As always, we kick off, hold my cutter with the featured smoke and it is the dark star, michael mckenry. Our guest, of course, joanne harrop. There's a reason why she chose the dark star. Do you know why?
Speaker 2:it's the ship she came in on.
Speaker 1:She came in on the Dark Star.
Speaker 2:Yes, she did. She parked it out in Allegheny. I mean, you dress like this, you come in just absolutely in your nines. You came in on a ship.
Speaker 1:You got it. She stunned. She was not expecting that. I don't think I was supposed to share it? No, maybe that was it.
Speaker 2:That was off the record. That was off the record, sorry.
Speaker 1:Rewind. What a treat it is to have Joanne Harrop here, who's numerous awards, 28 years and going strong at the Trib, first full-time female sports reporter for the Trib, back in what 1997?.
Speaker 3:The Freak Show year, yes, 1997. October 14th 1997.
Speaker 1:But now you've done just about everything imaginable at the Trib. You haven't left sports, because I still see some features regarding sports.
Speaker 3:Correct. I did sports for about 10 years full-time. It was really pretty much what I covered and then I helped out with the social scene. So the parties and there are a lot of events in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh is there's a lot of philanthropy here in Pittsburgh and there's some great events, so I was able to cover some of those. And then I transitioned to a features and fashion writer and so currently I'm a features writer and I write about everything. I write about food, I write about real estate. I do, as you said, sometimes my sports and features connect. So I've written about the Pittsburgh Steelers the annual fashion show that they do Just celebrated 50 years this past year with that. In terms of the Pirates, I've covered a lot of opening day, where I roam the tailgates and talk to people about you know how they feel about the season. I've written about some of the just the new offerings at PNC Park in terms of food and what they're going to be serving there. So it's kind of something different every day and I love it.
Speaker 1:By the way, speaking of fashion, no disrespect to any other sports writer, but is there a more fashionable sports writer in Pittsburgh than Joanne Harrop? And, by the way, our guests received gift cards to David Allen. The showroom is right there near you on Washington Road, so you'll be swinging by.
Speaker 2:He may try to pick up that hat yeah.
Speaker 1:Wait, what are the hats? Because you're known for your hat.
Speaker 3:Thank you. I wear a hat every day. I started doing it when I was covering fashion See Bernie every day.
Speaker 2:I love it. He does A lot of connections here.
Speaker 1:McKendree and Harrop, both catchers. She was a catcher on the Trips softball team and manager, anyway, so it started when.
Speaker 3:When I was covering uh fashion, so uh, about 15 years ago.
Speaker 2:How many different hats you think you have a hat closet or hat room?
Speaker 1:No, Don't lie, I wish I did.
Speaker 3:I actually have several hats in the backseat of my car, just in case I need to switch it up Throughout my house, which is probably not the best way. I have a few hat boxes that I keep the most important hats in A thing like a hat. It completes the look.
Speaker 2:That's incredible, but not just the hat, what you add to the hat, like that heart you added.
Speaker 3:Well, I have a lot of hat pins. I did just add this heart for heart month. We're in heart month. We've got Valentine's Day coming up on Friday, so I think it just adds a little bit of style and real. In heart month, we got Valentine's day coming up on Friday, so I think it just it just adds a little bit of um style and real quick about hats.
Speaker 2:I mean, I don't know if you know this, Brownie, but like you have to keep them in certain things to keep, especially the hats you wear, my, my grandmother passed away and we took all of her hats. My wife looks phenomenal hats. Love you, honey. But you look great in hats. How do you keep them pristine? You keep the shape because you have some really loud, cool hats.
Speaker 3:I do. I mean, a lot of times you have to sort of keep them by size and you can stack them, you can hang them and some of them, yeah, do get crushed if I don't take good care of them. But I try to find a place for them to keep them looking good.
Speaker 1:Michael, how do you do it? How do you keep your?
Speaker 3:hat so pristine, I just crush them.
Speaker 1:He could wear a different hat just about every day for about a week.
Speaker 2:Yes, I could, maybe a year. Yeah, I kind of have obsession Hoarder, a little bit hat hoarder whatever. Yeah, love it, I love hat hoarders yeah.
Speaker 1:We are going to get to the book A Daughter's Promise, but we're here. At Burned by Rocky Patel. You might have written the first featured story, I think, about this place when it opened up.
Speaker 3:I did back in 2018 because my story came out two days before it officially opened, so there might have been some other coverage of it. But yes, I was in here before any customers were ever in here, and it's.
Speaker 2:Trendsetter.
Speaker 3:Trendsetter.
Speaker 2:Again, just saying Again, you said it.
Speaker 3:This was the second one in the country. The first one is in Florida and you know, when I walked in here I hadn't really been in too many cigar bars, but I've never seen anything quite like this, and it's more. My story was about yes, there's beautiful cigars here and there's a wide range of cigars, but it's an experience when you walk through the door and you know Pittsburgh is lucky to have something like this.
Speaker 2:And why did they choose Pittsburgh? You think Second City, they're in Florida and Tampaa naples naples is rocky's where he started at rocky patel, who lives there, right, but then he's got one in indianapolis, uh, oklahoma city, interestingly enough and he opened at the battery in atlanta, the new ballpark, the braves a few years ago when it opened up but what's your thoughts there? Why pitts?
Speaker 3:When I was interviewing them, they said that Pittsburgh is a smoking city.
Speaker 1:It was known as the smoky city, smoking hot city.
Speaker 3:A smoking city. Yeah, back in the US. You know the steel days.
Speaker 2:Leland probably made that famous right, probably yeah.
Speaker 3:Can I tell you something that Jim Leland told me?
Speaker 1:Yes, you can Please, even if it's off the record. Especially, we'd love that.
Speaker 3:This was one of my first years in sports and I was at the Pirates and I can't even remember what I was covering because I didn't cover the team as a beat reporter, but I've done features and things about all of the major sports teams in Pittsburgh and I had introduced myself to him and I probably told him you know, I'm new, I haven't done this before. And he said to me you have to act like you've been there and I've tried to remember that you know, anytime I'm in a situation where I haven't been before.
Speaker 1:What great advice. What worked today? Isn't that cool.
Speaker 2:That is cool she walked in like she owned the place today, so I mean she worked today.
Speaker 1:And it looked like she had been here before.
Speaker 2:It turns out she had been I didn't realize she was one of the first customers. That's, miss. Patel Nobody would have known.
Speaker 3:I didn't know Miss Patel. She's got a lot of hats.
Speaker 1:Your folks loved the Pirates, didn't they? They?
Speaker 3:did, and we used to come to games all the time. There was a package that you could get at Three River Stadium and a lot of them were Sunday games and my parents it was great, they were getting older and it was a good time to bring them and they used to do the Pizza Hut pop-up contest.
Speaker 3:I don't know if you remember that, so we would be rooting for. They would just pull someone out of the stands and if you caught so many, I think there were three pop-ups and if you caught them, everyone got a free pizza hut personal pizza, so that was something that, um, so you'd love this michael, because we'd set up out in shallow left field.
Speaker 1:Randomly select one, and this is like usually, sund I think, joanne, yes, it was always Sundays, so pretty big crowds and they were always fired up about this. So you get the pitching machine and you'd hit these pop-ups and you'd extend it. Each first one was fairly easy. Second one medium.
Speaker 2:Just a normal fan, right.
Speaker 1:Normal fan.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:And to watch them. Try to navigate these pop-ups way high.
Speaker 3:These are majorly pop-ups, but the fans went crazy.
Speaker 1:If you caught it, they went nuts, Of course, if you dropped it who the heck got it, but it was great. Anyway, so they love the Pizza Hut pop-up.
Speaker 3:They love that, and my dad, well, they would watch every game on television and my dad would watch any of the afternoon games and then he would watch the rerun at night and I would come by and I'd be like Dad, you know what's going to happen.
Speaker 2:But he loved it so much that he'd watch the same game twice. Can we bring back the pop-up Like Pizza Hut pop-up? We can even do Pop-Tart, pop-up.
Speaker 1:David Cobb is saying we're going to. Yeah, okay, good, good.
Speaker 2:That's going to be a new feature. Got it. I like that.
Speaker 1:Actually, it would be unbelievable to bring that back. It would be tremendous. I'm sure it's probably something to do with insurance is why I'm guessing. I don't know if any other team does it.
Speaker 2:I don't know. They raced the Flash or Freeze down in Atlanta.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's a good call.
Speaker 2:I mean, you see guys?
Speaker 1:blow their hamstrings and everything else no.
Speaker 2:I was like you know, go out there, try your best, maybe catch it, maybe don't, but you know I'm going to leave it all out there.
Speaker 3:I bet the Savannah.
Speaker 1:Bananas do that or something like that. What if we had McHenry be the guy that caught the pop-ups but we had to do some kind of a handicap where you'd be blindfolded until it was like halfway up there?
Speaker 2:Ooh, I like it.
Speaker 3:I think we're into something I like it All right, I want my cut of that. Yeah, you will. You got it, you got it Get a piece of pizza.
Speaker 1:Joanne, have you thought about how many opening days you've attended, either as a fan or for features and so on?
Speaker 3:You know a lot. I don't have a count on them, but a friend and I from the Trib we went to the very first game at PNC Park and we were scalping tickets and it took us a while to get two tickets into it.
Speaker 1:Did you do the first regular season game or the exhibition game? It was a regular season game.
Speaker 3:yes. And then I've covered the home opener for several years in terms of, like I said, walking through the parking lot talking to fans about because it's really it's a great atmosphere and everyone's generally happy on that day, so it's a great time to be a Pirates fan on opening day.
Speaker 2:Is there a year that sticks out for you?
Speaker 3:opening day-wise Excitement was maybe a little bit different. Well, in terms of weather, it was last year, because we had everything we had snow, we had sleet, we had rain, we had sun, we had cold. Yes, it just we had rain, we had sun, we had cold.
Speaker 2:Yes, we just gave you the full experience in Pittsburgh. Yeah, you know what I mean.
Speaker 3:Yes, Exactly that one I definitely remember. But you know, I think you know, walking through the tailgates, people are just so happy on the home opener. It's just hard to.
Speaker 1:There's nothing like it in sports. There's nothing like it in sports.
Speaker 2:There's nothing like it in sports. This year should be special. It will be. It could be kind of phenomenal if Garrett Cole pitches against Paul Skeens Juggernaut versus juggernaut First rounder versus first rounder.
Speaker 1:You know, they're going to try and set that up. I hope so.
Speaker 3:That would be the.
Speaker 1:That would be the ticket.
Speaker 2:You could write a story about that, couldn't you?
Speaker 1:I could write a story about that you also write stories, not about, you say, the fans, but you've written stories about the pierogi races.
Speaker 3:Oh my gosh. Yeah, because right after the pandemic they moved the pierogi races to the Clemente Bridge.
Speaker 2:It's my dream to run in the pierogi race. I want to be Hannah. Personally, I want the bag.
Speaker 1:You need a purse In the ballpark, not on the bridge.
Speaker 2:Either way, but that's when I first started trying Okay.
Speaker 3:And I've written about the Renegades Chris Miller who leads that? Group they're great. I always say it's not opening day until the renegades have arrived, so I think that's been fun. At the end of this season I wrote about the pirates' partner to donate any leftover food after every homestand.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's nice.
Speaker 3:Because you know a lot of times that you know it's hard to know how many people you're going to have for a homestand and you can't. Some of the stuff you can keep to the next homestand, but some of it you can't. So 412 Food Rescue. They've donated thousands of pounds of food.
Speaker 2:That's amazing, that's great, that's amazing.
Speaker 3:And a lot of people don't know that, and the other sports teams do that as well.
Speaker 1:That's cool. In addition to stuff around the ballpark and regarding the Pirates, you do special features on things like the new entertainment venue which should be opening up sometime in 2025. That's correct.
Speaker 3:And that's right. That's close to PNC Park. That's going to just give fans an extra place to stop, whether it's before a game they're going to have a big screen TV at some point where they can watch games there something sold out, or they don't have a ticket for it and and after games, and even when there's not a game going on. On the north side, I mean, I feel like the north shore is is vibrant as ever. I mean, there's so many things coming and I think something like that gives you not just uh, food. I mean there's an experience. There's going to be a beer garden and there's going to be some apartments there too.
Speaker 1:That big screen is going to be wild.
Speaker 2:It kind of makes me think about college game day yeah Right, kind of that experience.
Speaker 1:Can you imagine, though, joey, if the Pirates get back in the postseason like the watch parties, how cool those are going to be?
Speaker 2:Another thing, Dave, it'd be cool to do the pregame out there. I'm just saying I mean, get the fans behind us. A lot of ideas here. Maybe we call McAfee as a guest and again make sure.
Speaker 3:Dwayne gets a cut of it, whatever happens.
Speaker 2:He's a Pittsburgher. Yeah, that's right. That's right, he loves. Hold my Cutter, by the way.
Speaker 3:McAfee does. Oh yeah, I'm assuming who doesn't? Yeah right, I mean people. People love that. Uh, with game day, I'm a penn state graduate, so anytime you know, game day has been um covering a penn state game and they're there all day, so it gives the fans an entire day experience right and you know all about that, right.
Speaker 2:I'm sure that's probably remarkable when you think about how fun that is for fans. I know the kids love it. But like I mean, you're seeing 40-, 50-, 60-year-old men and women just going nuts on those days.
Speaker 3:I know, because it is all about the experience. Well, I feel like sports is that one thing that connects people of all ages and it brings people back to when they were in college or when they were younger. And I think you know, especially with, there's a lot of seriousness in the world, so sometimes it's nice to have something that's not so serious, although I know we take our sports seriously. But it's a game, they're games.
Speaker 1:Amen, Joanne. You grew up in Greenfield, didn't you?
Speaker 3:I did Greenfield girl yes.
Speaker 1:So you're friends with the McCarthys, mike, didn't you Greenfield girl? Yes, so you're friends with the.
Speaker 3:McCarthy's Mike. It's an amazing family. Um, yeah, I went to grade school with Mike McCarthy and you know Greenfield there's no other place like it, and um, there's a little bar restaurant there.
Speaker 2:It's called big gyms. I don't know if you're familiar with it, big gym. I don't know Big gym, but you got to get to Big Jim's.
Speaker 3:Yes, and it's just. You know. There's just something about growing up in a neighborhood in Pittsburgh and you know Pittsburgh has 90 neighborhoods, so everyone says their neighborhood is like the best neighborhood.
Speaker 1:Yes, it's so confusing. It's such great competition amongst neighborhoods. It's so confusing, yeah, it's so great.
Speaker 2:I need an appendix yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's so great, I need an appendix. Yeah, it's too much.
Speaker 2:It's like where am I now? Yeah?
Speaker 3:Well, that's true, and it is sometimes hard to understand. There's so many neighborhoods If you didn't grow up here. But if you did, you understand and you have. Your neighborhood is the neighborhood.
Speaker 2:I mean, in Tennessee counties were state-sized so you could be like oh live in Williamson County, that's it. You drive and drive, you're still in Williamson County. Here you go four feet. I'm in a township, I'm in a suburb, I don't know where I am, but I'm in. I know I'm in Pittsburgh. So I just say that every time.
Speaker 3:Well, when Mike McCarthy, he was with the Dallas Cowboys, and before that who's with the Green Bay Packers, and when they would be playing on television, my mother would be like, oh, the Greenfield Packers are playing.
Speaker 2:That's great. So you adopted them. I love it. That's great.
Speaker 1:Yes, and in a way she was right. So Greenfield, then Penn State. You mentioned that Writing, always something you wanted to do, by the way.
Speaker 3:Well, yes, but I was derailed a little bit. So when I was in high school I went to an all girls catholic high school, sacred heart which is in east liberty and I was the sports editor of the newspaper because there were no boys there.
Speaker 3:So when I went to penn state and talked to my advisor about what I wanted to do, I said I want to be a sports writer and, um, he kind of steered me away from that because you know that was okay. I'm going to tell you it was 1982. So it was a while ago and there weren't a lot of female sports reporters. I think Leslie Visser, was um, probably one of the few at that time. And so he suggested I get a business degree. And so he suggested I get a business degree.
Speaker 2:So I got a marketing degree Smart, smart.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 3:So I got a job in sales and I sold office equipment and it was just not my passion.
Speaker 1:Where.
Speaker 3:It was called Frieden Elkettel, the competitor to Pitney Bowes In Pittsburgh Mailing machines. Yes, Okay. In Pittsburgh.
Speaker 1:You did that, for how long?
Speaker 3:I did that for 10 years and I.
Speaker 1:I said I never liked it for 10 years.
Speaker 3:No, but I, I tried to stick with it cause I liked it, cause my parents taught me to stick with something and sales pay well.
Speaker 2:Sales pay well.
Speaker 3:Well, at times it did.
Speaker 2:So I came home one night and I told my husband. I said I'm going to leave this job and I'm going to become a sports writer.
Speaker 1:No, and everyone that I told that to had that same look. Was it like this too?
Speaker 3:like yes immediate it was I mean, yeah, what did he say when you said that? Um, he was like well, that's like total opposite of what you're doing, because it was you know, and um, but he supported me through it and he eventually did a career which he said I inspired him to do.
Speaker 2:So trendsetter, there we go again.
Speaker 3:Here we go again. He was an accountant and then he became a teacher, so now he's doing what he loves.
Speaker 3:But, yeah, it took me. It took me a while. It took me almost two years to get hired because I didn't have a lot of experience. I didn't have the journalism degree. So at the time the Trib was expanding into Pittsburgh because there was a strike between the press and the Post-Gazette. The press folded.
Speaker 3:The Trib was a Westmoreland County-based paper. Our publisher started bringing papers into Pittsburgh because people wanted a newspaper. They wanted to hold a newspaper, and so we opened an office in Pittsburgh and Station Square and I went to several places and said I'll just write for free, let me give me something to write. And the sports editor at the time at the Trib in the high school sports, he gave me a story to write about a basketball player from Upper St Clair and so I wrote that story and I said I'll do any other story, just give me an hour's notice, I'll get to it. So I covered a lot of the sports that the guys didn't want to cover, you know, soccer, swimming, tennis For free. Well, not for free, like I was getting paid per story. Of course that's how she started.
Speaker 1:But where did you go? You went to different spots and said I'll do your stories for free.
Speaker 3:Where One was the Greenfield Grapevine. Oh, there you go.
Speaker 1:Did you do any stories for the Greenfield Grapevine?
Speaker 3:I did. I wrote for months for the Grapevine, Really yes.
Speaker 2:I did. She wrote about the Packers.
Speaker 3:Yeah yeah. And then the Advertiser Almanac, which is a weekly paper, the Green Tree Times. There was a Craft and Ingram Times. So smart you bounced around Joanne to all these spots, right.
Speaker 1:And then you started compiling stories. You got better. Of course, you went along.
Speaker 2:She built her resume yeah.
Speaker 1:Ultimately. So for a couple years you built these stories, and then that's what got you into the Trib. That's the door. Correct Opens.
Speaker 3:Correct opens yeah, correct. And and the um managing editor at the trib called me in and well, I had set up an interview with him saying I'm, I'm gonna come in and I'm gonna convince you why you want to hire me. So I go in and I, I, I'm talking to him, I give him my whole sales pitch, which I guess there was an advantage to being in sales, and he said and he said, well, I have a news position if you want it.
Speaker 3:And I said no. I said no, I, I want sports, I've I've been. And he said, well, can I have a news position if you want it? And I said no. I said I want sports, I've been. And he said, well, can you wait a few months? There might be an opening. I said I'll wait.
Speaker 2:So you knew exactly what you wanted. You were locked in on that target.
Speaker 1:I was locked in right.
Speaker 3:That's awesome so about four months later he called me in and he said he had a sports opening.
Speaker 1:That's what a great story to do it, to drop everything and then to write essentially for free for almost two years.
Speaker 2:Well, after having a job for 10 years. By the way, she was a great saleswoman, there's no doubt about it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you're probably better than you say, but still 10 years in sales. Did you dislike it from day one for 10 years?
Speaker 3:No, I didn't dislike it from day one, but I just felt like I wasn't passionate about it. So that was because it was, you know, when I sold someone a piece of equipment. It really helped them you know, make their job easier, like there was some satisfaction in that. But I just you know deep in my heart this is what I wanted to do.
Speaker 2:You seem like you probably love the people aspect of it, but you probably love the stories that you got to hear from them. Oh sure, and you probably wanted to tell it. Yes, because you just ooze somebody that wants to bring things to light, so like that's really really neat. I'm glad you followed your passion. I'm glad you're here today. Oh, thank you?
Speaker 3:Yeah, no problem.
Speaker 1:Thank you for what's your favorite story that stands out.
Speaker 3:Well, people ask me this all the time, and it was a story about my mother, so I had written a story about living with her in the nursing home for those 85 days back in December of 2020, and the story won a National Edward R Murrow Award, and so that will always be my favorite story, and so that will always be my favorite story, and the trib, our president jennifer bertetto.
Speaker 3:I don't know if you've ever met her. I don't know if I have. Uh, she was so invested in the story that, um, she helped me publish the book well to get to that.
Speaker 1:Uh, aside from this, we want to get into details about a daughter's promise the book. But aside for, is there a sports story that stands out, maybe even?
Speaker 3:Well, one of the first sports stories I covered were the powerboat races.
Speaker 1:Oh man.
Speaker 3:Over on the regatta.
Speaker 1:Now, Joanne, was this before they changed it because somebody got?
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 1:There was a bad crash into the bank.
Speaker 3:So I'm like, oh, i'll'll cover that, that'll be fun. These boats going around the river, and so one of the editors at the paper was like, okay, great, but they usually crash. So if something happens, you know you need to call the city desk. And and I'm just like I'm a sports writer, like I'm writing about the the boats going around, you know well, of course, the the first or second lap they crashed. And there was a gentleman who they had to perform CPR on him and I actually interviewed him later and I said, well, can you talk about the experience? And he was like I feel pretty good for someone who was dead. I was like, oh my gosh, so that was fun. I covered a lot of Mary Lou Mews golf tournaments, so I got to interview Michael Jordan, not in a one-on-one, but to be in the same space.
Speaker 3:And then there was one time that Billie Jean King was coming for a tennis exhibition out of Monroeville and I was at my desk and I'm in the sports department with all the guys and so I pick up my phone and of course I say Billie Jean, so nice to talk to you, and they're like you're talking to Billie Jean King, you're talking to Billie Jean, and I was like yes, Quiet Act like you've been here before, right, exactly.
Speaker 3:So, that was pretty cool, I covered. There was an ice skating event at Civic Arena and there were ice dancers there and one of the they were couples and the male had the female up in the air and his toe got caught and he dropped her on the ice and that was a.
Speaker 1:Horrific injury.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, it was tough but she ended up being okay. We interviewed her the next day and um, and, and she was okay. Trying to think in terms, I've got to cover um, penn state women's basketball when they were really good and so they were playing tennessee pat summit oh yeah, oh, it's the number one coach yep yeah well and okay, so then you know, so so I'm a signed ball by pat summit at home, you do casually dropped that in there, I had interviewed her a couple times and that, like the third time I saw her, she remembered who I was and I was like oh my gosh that's pretty neat, really cool and um
Speaker 3:I was going into the, the arena and there was I. I was trying to see like where the entrance was and there was a man who was walking out and and so I I was saying you know, I'm with the trib, I'm covering the penn state women against, uh, tennessee, you know where's the? And so you know whatever he's telling me. And and I was like, oh, thanks a lot, do you work here? And he was like, yes, I'm the men's coach, he's telling me. And I was like, oh, thanks a lot, do you work here? And he was like, yes, I'm the men's coach. He's like, everyone knows, the women's coach.
Speaker 1:I was just, like everyone knows, the women's coach.
Speaker 2:That's outstanding. You know they're bringing a WNBA team to Nashville. They're going to call it the Summits.
Speaker 1:I heard that, yeah, isn't that cool, very cool.
Speaker 2:The Haslam family partnered with some people and they're doing that. It's awesome stuff.
Speaker 3:Now you bring that up, Susie McConnell-Serio. I covered her pretty much throughout her career as a coach at Oakland Catholic when I was at Penn State I was a senior, she was a freshman, so I watched her play there. And then, when she went to the Cleveland Rockers, I did a feature story on her Rockers, I did a feature story on her. Pittsburgh has so many cool athletes both male and female.
Speaker 2:And writers. I'm just saying it's been fun, it's been a blast to get to know some of the people that have been around. We've talked to some writers.
Speaker 1:Joanne about what journalism is like these days. You've all had to change with the times. Every writer has.
Speaker 2:Explain that especially from your perspective, because you came in as the first female reporter in sports in Pittsburgh. That was a while back. You've done a lot of different things. How has it changed for you? That was a while back.
Speaker 3:You've done a lot of different things Like how has it changed for you? Well, I mean a lot of it is. You know, we don't have the trip still prints every day and we have several weekly and monthly publications as well. But a lot of people don't get their news from the printed paper, they get it online. So, as reporters, we learn to take photos and a lot of times it's just with our, with our cell phone.
Speaker 3:We shoot some video because you want, when you get someone on to a story, you want to engage them and you want them to stay on there. So, uh, that's part of it. And also shorter stories, because people are so used to scrolling all day that they're generally not going to read a really long story, unless it's like the one maybe I wrote about my mother. But you know you need something that's going to be succinct so that people will get through it, and we have the ability to know how many people have read a story and how long they've stayed on the story. So we get these analytics and you can tell tell like what stories people engage in.
Speaker 3:And you know the sports stories always do well, because it's not just people in Pittsburgh reading the sports stories they're. You know, all over the world People follow sports. But I think that's part of it. Another part of it is, you know, sometimes people don't want to talk to the media, they don't want to give their name, they don't want to give their opinion, they don't want to tell you what township, which of the 90 neighborhoods they live in. Why do you?
Speaker 2:think that is.
Speaker 3:I think just people are more and part of it. I understand people don't want all this information out there, although it is easy to get a lot of information because, you know, with the Internet. I think that's part of it me, because most of the stories I do are positive, nice stories. I'm not doing a big investigative piece where I can see where sometimes people might be a little bit less leery, more leery about talking to the media. But you know, it's just you have to. You have to respect the person that you're talking to. So so if I'm interviewing you and you just say I'd rather not use my name, okay, great, I, I respect that, I appreciate it. I move on Like you, can't you know? Before it used to be like come on, craig, like you know. But no, that's not the way to do it. To build the trust, yeah, you have to do that, of course.
Speaker 1:Do you think that your job, though, has changed, in terms of how you interview someone, you present. Interview someone, you present the story. That's not changed because of the internet and the fact that this newspaper is not printed. Right, that, really hasn't changed much.
Speaker 3:No.
Speaker 1:You have to be more involved in social media, though, don't you, than ever before. That is correct.
Speaker 3:Because that's how a lot of times, that's how we get people for our stories, we put something out there or we promote a story that way because that's where people are seeing it.
Speaker 3:So, yes, that, and you mentioned trust, trust, a lot of it is building trust with the person that you're interviewing and, um, the relationship. I mean there are people that I have known, for it'll be 28 years in october, so they might call me with a tip or they might be like, okay, I'll talk to her because I've talked to her before and, um, you know she's quoted me the right way. I mean that's, that's very important and you know, I think you know she's quoted me the right way. I mean that's very important and you know, I think you know most journalists in this town are really professional and I just think sometimes other people create a situation where it's not good for us journalists. But you know, I think Pittsburgh we have a lot of really talented journalists who appreciate the profession and do it well.
Speaker 2:How do you decide what story to pursue, because you've touched so many different lanes? I mean you're on a six-lane highway changing lanes. Which lane do you stay in and how do you decide?
Speaker 3:That's a very good question. Once a week I meet with my editor and I give her some suggestions of stories that I want to do. She will offer up stories that she thinks you know might be good to do.
Speaker 2:How do you find those stories by chance? Well a little research research.
Speaker 3:Like you say, social media I might see burned by Rocky Patel is opening in two years or one year or six months or whatever, and so I'll put that on my list and and talk to her about it. We, um, there are our public relations people, media relations people that will send us, you know, an email come tuesday afternoon. This is what you're gonna learn about what's new at pnc park this year. So some of the things people send to us, some of them we find and you know some of them. I just think you know it would be really cool to know a particular thing, and so I just say, hey, let's like do it, and usually she's pretty open to that, so I think that helps.
Speaker 1:Do you or did you look up to any writer, or writers in particular that you really are fond of that, their style, or because you started in sales in so many years? It's not like you grew up emulating these writers really. You almost forged your own style and so forth.
Speaker 2:Did you write at all during those 10 years, like just as a hobby?
Speaker 3:Yes, I like to keep a journal and things like that. I think I recommend all people should keep some type of journal, just sort of writing down thoughts, which is how the book came about, because I had journal entries that I had written while I was in the nursing home.
Speaker 3:But I'm trying to think, yeah, in terms of you know, the Trib has always had really really good journalists when I was in sports, Jerry Deerry depala I don't know if you follow his absolutely I mean, he's been around a long time and you know I've I worked for him for a while and when I was in high school sports, and you know, just watching someone like him and the way he handles himself love that, I love.
Speaker 1:He's such a good man. So down to earth he's a good. Yeah, yeah, yeah, he sure is, yep.
Speaker 3:He is for sure. And the photojournalists. I mean we have had some great photojournalists over the year and we still do, and I kind of, when I'm with them, I kind of see how they shoot something, and so if I'm on my own.
Speaker 2:So intriguing to me, so intriguing that end with it. I love that you call it what photo journalists? Yeah, yeah, I love the fact that you said that, because they're telling a story in a different way. It's so cool.
Speaker 3:The thing is, if you have a picture and you know, I know I'm a word person, but a lot of times a picture tells the story. You don't need any words to go with it.
Speaker 2:Do.
Speaker 3:Picture tells the story, you don't need any words to go with it. Do you pick the picture to your story? Um, I do not, I mean, unless I take my own photos, but um, generally the photo journalists will go through and edit I love that and choose what they, you know, what they think, you know we'll have discussions about it, like, okay, I'm working on this particular project and you know we'll meet about it. I did um one of our journalists, uh, louis Rudiger, if you've seen any of his.
Speaker 3:We worked on this story. We interviewed five people, who were 100. Don't look at me.
Speaker 1:I got a ways to go, bro. Do you see him? Look at me, Joanne he does all the time.
Speaker 3:What do you think like?
Speaker 1:tomorrow. I did see that Jeez. Anyway, go ahead.
Speaker 2:I know it's like a couple weeks Anyway, Joanne.
Speaker 1:So you have five people that were turning 100.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that were 100.
Speaker 1:That were 100.
Speaker 3:And were doing something Like the one was working at McDonald's. Wow, one does a-.
Speaker 2:The Century Club.
Speaker 3:It's a century club. It's a century club. One will jump on an online meeting. Another one was still driving and we spent time with these people who are amazing, but when you're talking to someone who's 100, they only have a smaller span that you can interview them or get a good photo.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they don't have a lot of time Between naps and right.
Speaker 3:yeah, I mean one of them's driving one's on, yeah, on a zoom yeah, kidding me that that's true I know, I know, I mean these, these. They were, they were amazing yeah, that's cool. The other one's writing code, no big deal wow, that's crazy, but I mean, that was where. So when we do projects like that, we work, work together, you know, with an editor, with a photojournalist myself, and that's really where you get the best stories.
Speaker 1:Do you need to know what is going to be published as a picture? Because you said sometimes you don't need the words, a picture tells the story. Well, if there's a picture, don't you need to see the picture first before you write the story, because you don't want to overdo it, or does it matter? No, there's a good, right, there's sort of a good complimenting, like the photo should compliment the story.
Speaker 3:So right, yes, a lot of times if you do the homework ahead of time, then you're kind of both on the same page. But sometimes you'll go to a story and you'll think something's going to happen and then something totally different happens, and then it changes both the photos and the story. So you have to be open to that as well.
Speaker 1:Well, you mentioned, we've got the book A Daughter's Promise. It's a phenomenal book. It's a phenomenal story, but how it all came to be, let's go back to 2020, covid-19. How old was your mom at the time?
Speaker 3:My mom was 93 at the time. Yes, Evelyn, yes. So she had been in this nursing home for four years prior and I had visited her every day.
Speaker 1:Every day, every day. For how many years? For four years? And how far do you live, or did you?
Speaker 3:live. I lived about 17 minutes away, so it wasn't that far. Every day, mm-hmm.
Speaker 1:The same time every day. How long did you stay every day?
Speaker 3:Well, like if I was working after work and if it was the weekends, any time during the weekend, and I stayed a lot because when she first went in she had broken her hip and so she wasn't doing well and I wasn't sure she was going to make it. So I stayed, and at the nursing home they had these windowsills that they had these like padded pillows on. I don't know if you've seen that before. So I was sleeping on the windowsill and one of the nurses came in and she's like you can't sleep on the windowsill, and I was like well, I'm not leaving her. So they brought me a bed, so I had my own bed and um, so I'd stayed several times during those four years.
Speaker 3:Any siblings? I have four siblings.
Speaker 1:They all live out of state uh-huh, so you took it upon yourself.
Speaker 3:Of course, the local one that you were gonna okay, right and um, and I had you had mentioned my dad. Well, I also took care of my dad. Who, who was 93, and I would take him to. Who was a veteran right. World War II veteran World.
Speaker 1:War II. Thank you.
Speaker 3:D-Day veteran. How about that?
Speaker 2:Some incredible pictures. Man Kind of did some internet stalking.
Speaker 3:Yes, and he had been on dialysis two and a half years and I took him every week for dialysis.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 3:How many years years prior to that, to to your mother going into the nursing home, was this happening?
Speaker 1:well, 2004, my mom had a stroke so I've been caring for her from 2004, so what about your dad?
Speaker 3:what years he um he? 2013, 2013 which is a big yeah um yeah, he's 30, went on dialysis so I was kind of taking they were living in an assisted living facility so it was, I wasn't there every day, then but um, so the nursing home had a meeting, because everyone was talking about we're going to shut down for two weeks, and at this meeting, someone brought up I'm not sure who it was. You know, what are we going to do with Joanne? She's here every day, and so the CEO.
Speaker 1:How many people in the nursing home? I'm going to jump in these questions before I forget. How many people do you think? How many residents?
Speaker 3:We're living well, probably at the time, maybe about 60 or 70.
Speaker 2:Okay, and how much of a heads up. Like they're saying they're shutting down for two weeks.
Speaker 3:Yeah, is it pretty immediate? Yeah, well, I had about two weeks notice so that the ceo of the nursing home said we'll ask her if she wants to stay, but if she stays she can't leave. So the director of nursing came to me and said here's what we're going to do. We're going to be shutting down for two weeks. You can stay with evelyn, but you can't leave. And I said I'm in. This is covid hits, so two weeks yeah, so I moved in on march 13 2020 two weeks later we were still in there yeah, that's the thing they said, two weeks, but right, nobody knew right.
Speaker 2:Two weeks times, correct times, two times right, I mean no, yeah, no one no one knew and um, in April of that year.
Speaker 3:Um, my mom, I could tell like something wasn't right with her. We weren't really sure what it was, and so one of her doctors came in and they did allow for, um, uh, a test to be done in the nursing home. So they brought in, they did a test on her and she was diagnosed with breast cancer and it was an aggressive form of breast cancer and um, so I was glad that I was there, because she died on June 5th 2020. So I was there 84 days. That was the 84th day and the direct the, the nurse who was in charge, came in and said um, you can leave, but if you leave, you can't take the stuff. You can take the stuff, but I hadn't packed anything up. She said but you can't come back and get it. We'll pack it up for you because it was COVID, she said, or you can stay. So I stayed in the nursing home one night by myself.
Speaker 1:The day after your mom died you stayed an extra day.
Speaker 3:I slept in her bed.
Speaker 1:You mentioned you were keeping a daily diary. At what point did you say no, this is a story.
Speaker 3:Well, that comes back to being around journalists. So my editor at the time, ben Schmidt I don't know if you've ever I don't think so.
Speaker 3:I was telling it, it was like the first week in there and I was still writing some stories, just interviewing people on the phone, and I said something about something in the nursing home and he said, are you writing all this down? And I was like like well, I wasn't really. I, I don't know, he's like you should write this down. So from that day I just wrote something every day and I took pictures and videos because we were, you know, because I'm a journalist and I would be like, oh, that's a photo op right there and, um, in regards to the pirates, opening day was, was, obviously was. There was no opening day that year, but we shot a video in the nursing home of the residents seeing Take Me Out to the Ballgame.
Speaker 2:Wow.
Speaker 3:And it's gotten over 7,000 views. Wow, you probably can find it somewhere. I can find it if you guys want to see it. Yeah, so we kind of celebrated opening day even though there was no opening day.
Speaker 1:So it's in the book, julian. What were those days like, though? Because when they say we're shutting down for two weeks, you say, well, I'm here every day anyway for a couple hours a day, and I'm not leaving my mom Right Now.
Speaker 3:Three, four, five seven, eight, nine, ten, fifteen days into it. What are you thinking?
Speaker 2:Well, you know, when I think back, I wasn't I was just doing it.
Speaker 3:You know, like when things happen in your life you just do it, you just did the next right thing Right, you just did the next right thing. You're like two weeks Got it Right, right and um. So so my husband understood the relationship that I had with my mom, so we would either talk or text and um. Also, for the pirates, they show the 79 world series, so so we would like he would watch it. Where he wasn't, we would watch it and you know, talk about that and um, because that was a. That's a core memory, you know just that's awesome in general, but you know I I helped out.
Speaker 3:So if there was um, there was a friend and and she's still around. She just turned 101 on friday and she's in the book and so her son and daughter-in-law her name's Rosie, and her son and daughter-in-law knew I was going to be in there, so I checked on her every day and I would send them you know you had to be a godsend for some people my gosh. We'd play cards. They would have bingo in the hallways, so I would be the one paying the money to the bingo.
Speaker 1:Oh my.
Speaker 3:God.
Speaker 2:So you're a bookie too? Yeah, Hock-a-hock Card shark.
Speaker 3:Bingo, wow, wow. And so Monday was bingo. Tuesdays, there was a volunteer that brought us snacks, like she wasn't allowed in the building but she would drop off snacks to us, like donuts, cheesecake, whatever. Wednesday they made french fries, so we had french fries on wednesday. Thursday, the nursing home would buy lunch for the workers, so they would bring me whatever. It was, like pizza, hoagies, whatever. And then friday was ice cream day and there was a woman who lived next door to my mother and, um, I knew where all the supplies were, so I her like her nightgown and some towels, and she knew when I was coming by and I would just drop it off. So, and I did some work while I was in there as well, you know, taking care of my mother. We talked about a lot of things.
Speaker 1:Was your mother aware that this was the plan by the way when the two-week thing happened, or were you just doing it and kind of she didn't realize? No, she was aware. I talked to her about it.
Speaker 3:I went in that first night, yeah, and you know, partway through she was like thank you for being here.
Speaker 1:Is that part of the daughter's promise? Yes, that you promised her you weren't going to leave her.
Speaker 3:I promised my dad that I wasn't going to leave.
Speaker 1:You did yes. You did yes when your dad was dying my dad?
Speaker 3:yes. So when my dad was um laid out in the funeral home, I wrote a note to him and told him. I promised him that I would take care of her and, um, I never thought about it at you know, they never told anyone about it. And when I was writing the book, the editor who I was working with, sue m McFarlane, said you know where did this come from? Like, why did you want to be there with Evelyn? And so I told her about the note and she said can you share what you said in that note? And I was like no, that was just between myself and my dad. And so I eventually shared what was in the note.
Speaker 1:So you put the note in the casket.
Speaker 3:Well, I handed it to the funeral director and my dad was wearing he had a green jacket from the Masters that we had bought him. Wow, the same manufacturer of that green jacket. He was a golfer, so he was wearing his green jacket, oh my gosh. And so the funeral director tucked it in his pocket by his heart.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh. So you write this promise to your dad that I'm not leaving mom.
Speaker 3:And that was in 2015.
Speaker 1:Yes, and then? So it's five years later now. Or are you of the Sibla of the five, five kids, total of the five kids? Were you obviously the closest to your mom and dad?
Speaker 3:Yes, because I'm the youngest.
Speaker 1:So I spent the most time with them.
Speaker 3:She was a favorite too'm the youngest, so I spent the most time with the favorite too definitely, yeah, definitely.
Speaker 1:You spent the most time because you're but, you're literally closest because the others are out of town right, but also they were older.
Speaker 3:So when they were all in school, I was with my parents and then they all left after school and then I was with my parents.
Speaker 1:So yes, wow, now how you said your mom is aware that you're staying. You said mom not leaving uh, the breast cancer diagnosis happens. How much was she throughout this process still, her mental faculties was still with her most of the time most of the time, until probably the last, like two weeks really um yeah, because she would say can we go out?
Speaker 3:And I would write on the board there was a whiteboard there I would write you know, there's a pandemic, we can't go out, and she would be like this must be really bad. So I mean, I think she sort of understood it but didn't you know, she would ask me like can we go out? And I'm like no, we.
Speaker 2:I mean, it was hard for me to understand.
Speaker 3:I mean just by those times it just couldn't articulate it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 3:So I'm only certain that she was probably like what is?
Speaker 1:happening. She was 93. Yeah, so you never left.
Speaker 3:No.
Speaker 1:From that day, you did not leave that nursing home.
Speaker 3:No, well, we went to one appointment at the hospital. They let us go to a doctor's appointment how far in was that?
Speaker 2:one time in mckee yeah, like what was that? Like time wise, like 30 days, 40 days in um, that was in april, and what's well, I guess there's there's a funny story to this, anyway.
Speaker 3:So, uh, my husband came and picked us up and, um, we were all masked, you know, all wearing masks, and so we made him like, take us to big gyms and get take like we didn't go in, but like we were like well, I mean because it was a nice day and so you're like just drive around a little bit.
Speaker 1:You know, these people are out of here. Yeah, wow, a little freedom, right. What was that like to be out for the one time? That must have been a treat, really. Yes, even though it was going to a doctor's appointment.
Speaker 3:Right, yeah, you don't realize how much you miss freedom when you don't have it. You know, I mean because, even you know, I had a few friends also that would bring us some meals so I could go down. I was on the second floor with her so I could go down and get the meal from them and, like when the door would open, I'd be like, oh my gosh, it's so nice, like the air feels so good Like oh, my God.
Speaker 1:Right, joanne, you were there the whole, and during this pandemic, I mean, let's face it, there was a scare throughout the country regarding nursing homes. Yes, so wasn't it frightening almost to be in there, you know?
Speaker 3:what people have asked me that. And there was only one time. I thought that it's about 11 o'clock at night and one of the administrators shows up at the door and I'm thinking like, why are you here? And he said that one of the workers had tested positive, but they were great about it, like they. They got the worker you know home, they tested everyone. It was on the other side of the building where my mother was, but that was the. That was the only time. I mean, they kept covet out the whole time I was there, so I, I didn't, I I don't why I wasn't gonna leave, like I wasn't gonna leave her.
Speaker 2:So I didn't it's amazing to me that you just stayed. It's so locked in on the moments. It's easy to get outside and not really focus on the presence that you're in we want to focus on. Well, how's the family at home? How's my job going to be when this is all over with what's going on? I mean you're just locked in on just hey, this is my mom. I love her. I made a promise, I'm going to keep it. Did that just keep you so narrow focused? I mean, cause that's not easy to do when you're locked in. I mean I'd be running around like crazy.
Speaker 3:Well, she would have done the same for me.
Speaker 2:So, yeah. Well said.
Speaker 1:So you had a big, big, big why? Wow? Probably incredible, and it's in the book each day. But I remember reading the story in the trib before the book was published and it was just captivating just the fact that no one else had done. And to those of us who had similar relationships with our mom, there's nothing like a mother daughter relationship. That's over the top. But still to appreciate so much the fact that that you kind of made the promise to your father but you weren't going to let your mom be frightened like. I'm going to be with you all the time, mom. That's my promise to you as well. Yeah, so there were some good days and bad days, I'm sure oh sure, yeah, we, we laughed, yeah.
Speaker 3:Um, yeah, I mean, there was, you know, we watched the golden girls that was our favorite show every day, whatever was on. We were watching it, yeah, and, like I said, the reruns of pirates baseball. Um, you know things like that. Um, you know I could push around the hall a little bit yeah you know, we didn't really see anyone else. Um, um, yeah, I mean it. It, it was a beautiful time.
Speaker 1:It's, it's it is so dying, being with a loved one who's dying, that you're so torn, joanne, because it's it's this feeling. Like you, you can't get away from all the emotions. You want to be there, but then you don't. You want them to pass gracefully, but you don't, because you want to keep them forever and to be there every day and to watch it. And did she progressively go down, or was it last couple of days that she really went downhill.
Speaker 3:The last two weeks were really bad, but other than that it wasn't. I mean, she was still like getting out of bed, getting dressed. We were, you know, going down the hall or whatever.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I would say probably the last two weeks was where she was mostly out of it. But yeah, but she would. I had there was a lounge chair that I would, a recliner that I pulled next to her bed Because I had my bed there but it wasn't right next to her and she would reach for me Like she knew I was there.
Speaker 1:It's comforting for her to know that you're there. Wouldn't change anything for the world, would you? No, no, had to do it over again, you'd do the same thing.
Speaker 3:I would do the same thing and it's in the book, and this is not my line, but I read it somewhere. You know, she was there when she took her last Wow.
Speaker 1:A daughter's promise. That's the way it should be Really neat. What a story, Inspirational. And you're a treat. You're an absolute treat. I know you said beforehand you were trying to butter us up. When you walked in here you said this is my favorite podcast, even before.
Speaker 2:She did say it. You don't have to say that. She did say it.
Speaker 1:She was riding in on her boat and, by the way, she's one of the few guests not saying all of it, but she's one of the few guests who got the double meaning Hold my cutter Nailed it. She said hold my cutter because of the device you cut the cigar and the pitch. She knew it Immediately. That's the catcher in her.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely Easy peasy.
Speaker 1:Joanne, thank you so much. Get the book A Daughter's Promise, Jillian Harrop. Read Heaven or On Hold my Cutter.
